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The Iron Giant (1999)
The Iron Giant (1999) poster
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The Iron Giant (1999)

Animation, Drama, Family, Science Fiction • 1h 26m

Overview

In the small town of Rockwell, Maine in October 1957, a giant metal machine befriends a nine-year-old boy and ultimately finds its humanity by unselfishly saving people from their own fears and prejudices.

Director: Brad Bird

Best English-Friendly Release

Best Video Release

Format

1080p Blu-ray

Length

86 mins

Type

Movie

Last Updated

2 months ago

Contributors

Best English-Friendly Release
Best Video Release
Format
1080p Blu-ray
Length
86 mins
Type
Movie
Last Updated
2 months ago
Contributors

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Disney 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Disney 4K Blu-ray

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Paramount 4K Blu-ray

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Paramount 4K Blu-ray (caveat: IMAX sequences have not been released on home video to date)

Additional Info:

IMAX sequences have not been released on home video to date

Best English-Friendly:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray

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Paramount 4K Blu-ray (caveat: IMAX sequences have not been released on home video to date)

Additional Info:

IMAX sequences have not been released on home video to date

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Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Original theatrical release featured the song "I'm So Excited", which was later replaced with "Little Boy Sweet". The former is included on 1983 VHS/LaserDisc releases, and was at one point available on Amazon and Vudu Streaming streams.

Best English-Friendly:

Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Original theatrical release featured the song "I'm So Excited", which was later replaced with "Little Boy Sweet". The former is included on 1983 VHS/LaserDisc releases, and was at one point available on Amazon and Vudu Streaming streams.

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Best Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

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WB Blu-ray sounds superior to 4K Blu-ray and DVD which have additional filtering.

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Once Upon a Time in America poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

251 min cut (Extended): Fox Blu-ray. Eagle Pictures has forced Italian subs in some parts

229 min cut (Theatrical): WB Blu-ray

139 min cut (US theatrical): VHS

Best Video:

Eagle Pictures 4K Blu-ray, caps

The 4K includes both theatrical and extended cuts. It's overall a solid upgrade over previous discs, but some will strongly dislike the color grading.
There are some issues with encoding and grain management.


Nic's review:

Some definitely messed with it as there’s grain management going on that resulted in magnetic, squishy grain movement. Both cuts (4K discs) are affected and it doesn’t look like an encoding issue to me as the bitrates don’t drop down to single digits á la Paramount or StudioCanal. During opticals, the lowest I’ve noted on the Extended 4K was around 30 MB/s vs. ~5 MB/s more for the theatrical cut.

Darker scenes are mostly (but not always) better but when it gets brighter, particularly in exteriors or scenes like the Jennifer Connelly dance scene at minute 38, I can’t unsee the digital tinkering as it does some damage texturally.

I compared it with the Eagle Pictures and Warner Bros Fox Blu-ray of the extended cut and they all look fine without grain management like that. Eagle Pictures’s Blu-ray is an older one if anyone’s curious and credited to another authoring house than 64Biz, which did the 4K.

Other than that, except for some encoding-related chroma noise that peeks through in the DV layer, Eagle Pictures did everything right. They corrected the framing to 1.85, kept the original English titles, the English restoration note, subtitles, HDR/DV is gentle and respectful of the source black levels are better than on the Warner Bros/Fox Blu-ray. Without that grain management, this would’ve been the all-timer release we all longed for.

Best Audio:

251 min cut: Fox Blu-ray (24-bit, Eagle Pictures is 16-bit, not audible)
229 min cut: Warner Bros LaserDisc (missing 2 minutes, but original mono mix was never released on DVD/Blu-ray)

Additional Info:

Extended edition adds scenes cut from the theatrical, but from a much lower quality source. It's intended to approximate the original cut, but to what extent that is true is debatable.
US theatrical cut is infamously bad, was panned at release and never re-released on home video.

Best English-Friendly:

251 min cut (Extended): Fox Blu-ray. Eagle Pictures has forced Italian subs in some parts

229 min cut (Theatrical): WB Blu-ray

139 min cut (US theatrical): VHS

Best Video:

Eagle Pictures 4K Blu-ray, caps

The 4K includes both theatrical and extended cuts. It's overall a solid upgrade over previous discs, but some will strongly dislike the color grading.
There are some issues with encoding and grain management.


Nic's review:

Some definitely messed with it as there’s grain management going on that resulted in magnetic, squishy grain movement. Both cuts (4K discs) are affected and it doesn’t look like an encoding issue to me as the bitrates don’t drop down to single digits á la Paramount or StudioCanal. During opticals, the lowest I’ve noted on the Extended 4K was around 30 MB/s vs. ~5 MB/s more for the theatrical cut.

Darker scenes are mostly (but not always) better but when it gets brighter, particularly in exteriors or scenes like the Jennifer Connelly dance scene at minute 38, I can’t unsee the digital tinkering as it does some damage texturally.

I compared it with the Eagle Pictures and Warner Bros Fox Blu-ray of the extended cut and they all look fine without grain management like that. Eagle Pictures’s Blu-ray is an older one if anyone’s curious and credited to another authoring house than 64Biz, which did the 4K.

Other than that, except for some encoding-related chroma noise that peeks through in the DV layer, Eagle Pictures did everything right. They corrected the framing to 1.85, kept the original English titles, the English restoration note, subtitles, HDR/DV is gentle and respectful of the source black levels are better than on the Warner Bros/Fox Blu-ray. Without that grain management, this would’ve been the all-timer release we all longed for.

Best Audio:

251 min cut: Fox Blu-ray (24-bit, Eagle Pictures is 16-bit, not audible)
229 min cut: Warner Bros LaserDisc (missing 2 minutes, but original mono mix was never released on DVD/Blu-ray)

Additional Info:

Extended edition adds scenes cut from the theatrical, but from a much lower quality source. It's intended to approximate the original cut, but to what extent that is true is debatable.
US theatrical cut is infamously bad, was panned at release and never re-released on home video.

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Best English-Friendly:

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Best Video:

Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray (includes Extended Cut on regular Blu-ray)

Best Audio:

Original theatrical 6.1 mix: 2009 Warner Bros Blu-ray Ultimate Edition (Theatrical Cut only) 

Extended Cut 5.1 mix: Warner Bros Blu-ray

DTS remix: Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

The film is titled Sorcerer's Stone in the US, India, and the Philippines.

Wizard's/Hogwarts Collection has all the bonus features for all the 8 films. 

The lossless version of the original 6.1 mix is only available on the ultimate edition blu-ray not to be confused with the ultimate collectors edition blu-ray.

Best English-Friendly:

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Best Video:

Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray (includes Extended Cut on regular Blu-ray)

Best Audio:

Original theatrical 6.1 mix: 2009 Warner Bros Blu-ray Ultimate Edition (Theatrical Cut only) 

Extended Cut 5.1 mix: Warner Bros Blu-ray

DTS remix: Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

The film is titled Sorcerer's Stone in the US, India, and the Philippines.

Wizard's/Hogwarts Collection has all the bonus features for all the 8 films. 

The lossless version of the original 6.1 mix is only available on the ultimate edition blu-ray not to be confused with the ultimate collectors edition blu-ray.

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Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray, but a shot was cut from the film

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Best Video:

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Additional Info:

Even putting resolution aside, the Warner Archive 4K Blu-ray has the best video, the old Blu-ray master and earlier DVD both had massive issues with colour.

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Additional Info:

Even putting resolution aside, the Warner Archive 4K Blu-ray has the best video, the old Blu-ray master and earlier DVD both had massive issues with colour.

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Best Audio:

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Best English-Friendly:

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Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray caps. Original 1.85 framing restored, much better colors, image detail and a film stock-like tone curve was restored.

Best Audio:

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Additional Info:

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Additional Info:

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OG theatrical version: Disney Deluxe Edition LaserDisc

2004 restored version: Disney 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

OG theatrical version - uncensored: Pre-1993 35mm scans

OG theatrical version - censored: 1993+ 35mm scans or Disney Deluxe Edition LaserDisc

OG theatrical version has a racially insensitive lyric in opening "Agrabah" song replaced for re-releases, available on OG soundtrack CD and pre-1993 35mm prints only

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2004 restored version: Disney 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

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OG theatrical version - censored: 1993+ 35mm scans or Disney Deluxe Edition LaserDisc

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Best English-Friendly:

Hong Kong Neofilms 4K Blu-ray

US/UK Crunchyroll Blu-ray for English dub

Upcoming Release:

US/UK Crunchyroll 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Hong Kong Neofilms 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Hong Kong Neofilms 4K Blu-ray/Japan Toho 4K Blu-ray

US/UK Crunchyroll Blu-ray for English dub

Additional Info:

Hong Kong Neofilms 4K Blu-ray has better bitrate and detail than Japan Toho 4K Blu-ray, both releases have English subtitles.

The original theatrical Atmos mix has not been given a home release.

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UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Hong Kong Neofilms 4K Blu-ray

US/UK Crunchyroll Blu-ray for English dub

Upcoming Release:

US/UK Crunchyroll 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Hong Kong Neofilms 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Hong Kong Neofilms 4K Blu-ray/Japan Toho 4K Blu-ray

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1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

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Best Video:

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Best Audio:

UK Anime, Ltd. Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Netflix HDR is false HDR against the original creative intent. US Aniplex Blu-ray only has lossy audio.

Best English-Friendly:

UK Anime, Ltd. Blu-ray

Best Video:

UK Anime, Ltd. Blu-ray

Best Audio:

UK Anime, Ltd. Blu-ray

Additional Info:

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Best Audio:

Japanese audio: 2015 US Disney Blu-ray

English audio: 2015 US Disney Blu-ray

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Best Audio:

Japanese audio: 2015 US Disney Blu-ray

English audio: 2015 US Disney Blu-ray

Additional Info:

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UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

US GKIDS Blu-ray

Best Video:

Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray / US GKIDS Blu-ray

US GKIDS Blu-ray for the Amazon English dub

US OOP Funimation Blu-ray for the older Funimation English dub

Additional Info:

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Best English-Friendly:

US GKIDS Blu-ray

Best Video:

Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray / US GKIDS Blu-ray

US GKIDS Blu-ray for the Amazon English dub

US OOP Funimation Blu-ray for the older Funimation English dub

Additional Info:

Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray is an upscale, but has less compression artifacts

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UHD Blu-ray
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US OOP Funimation Blu-ray

Best Video:

Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray

Prime Video Streaming for the Amazon English dub

US OOP Funimation Blu-ray for the second (home video) Funimation English dub

Unofficial sources only for the first (theatrical) Funimation English dub

Best English-Friendly:

US OOP Funimation Blu-ray

Best Video:

Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray

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US OOP Funimation Blu-ray for the second (home video) Funimation English dub

Unofficial sources only for the first (theatrical) Funimation English dub

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